Good report cards for area high schools

FORT LAUDERDALE — Public high schools in the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County school districts have received good grades in the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) 2012 Annual Report Card.

In Broward, all district and charter high schools earned a grade C or higher. Moreover, this year’s results highlight that 82 percent of Broward’s high schools earned a grade of “A” or “B” versus 76.3 last year, including Hallandale and Piper high schools, both improving to an A from a C last year. Flanagan, Fort Lauderdale and Taravella high schools all also improved to an A from a B last year.

Broward’s high schools outperformed the state’s big five districts (including Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach) and the state with 69 percent receiving an A and 82 percent receiving an A or B.

Among other highlights from this year’s Broward high school grades, 22 district and five charter high schools received an A, increasing from 14 district schools and three charter schools last year. Four district high schools and one charter school earned a B grade, down from 12 B grades last year. Six high schools and one charter received a grade of C, up from five district schools and down from two charter schools last year. No high schools received a D or F grade.

Schools Superintendent Robert W. Runcie applauded the hard work and efforts of the students and staff. “We see progress and opportunities to improve,” he said. “We will continue our work and mission to ensure that our students reach their highest potential.”

MIAMI-DADE

Meanwhile, among the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), 88 percent of senior high schools – 49 schools – received either an A or B, compared to the statewide average of 78 percent. For the first time since school performance grades began being issued in 1999, M-DCPS has no D or F high schools. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho also noted that 100 percent of the high schools scored a grade of C or above.

The nine Education Transformation Office (ETO) high schools all improved or maintained the improvement achieved in the previous year. They included Miami Norland Senior High School improvement from a C to an A; Miami Southridge and Miami Jackson senior high schools who maintained their A; Miami Edison from C to B; and Booker T. Washington and Miami Central from D to C.

In addition to the 35 senior high schools that received an A, six other high schools earned enough points to receive an A, but due to provisions in the law that penalize schools that do not meet the at-risk graduation rate, these schools dropped to a B. They include Miami Edison, Westland Hialeah, G. Holmes Braddock, Mater Academy Lakes, Hialeah Gardens and Miami Coral Park senior high schools.

The high school grades follow the Miami-Dade district’s rise in graduation rates, issued in November. For the 2011-2012 academic year, the M-DCPS graduation rate jumped nearly five points as calculated by following U.S. Department of Education guidelines. The federally calculated graduation rate for 2010-11 was 71.3 percent; this year it rose to 76.0 percent, surpassing the state both in rate of growth and total percentage points.

PALM BEACH

The Palm Beach County School District and Superintendent Wayne Gent also found good news in the FDOE 2012 Annual Report Card. The percentage of district high schools that earned an A increased 22 percent from the previous year. The district had 73 percent of high schools that earned an A or B grade.

Moreover, the district outperformed Florida, 50 percent vs. 46 percent, in the percentage of A’s. For elementary and middle schools, the grades are based entirely on Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) results. Elementary and middle school grades were released in late June 2011.

High school scores include other components including student performance and participation in accelerated courses, college readiness in reading and mathematics, and the overall graduation rate as well as the graduation rate of “at-risk” students. South Florida district high schools showed improvement in each of these areas. For additional information on school grades visit the Florida Department of Education website schoolgrades.fldoe.org